


Domino's Day Off

by JedimasterMegan



Category: Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - Domino Squad Lives, Gen, Giveaway fic, domino squad makes friends!, most people are prejudiced against clones but Not Everyone, trying new things
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-29
Updated: 2019-12-29
Packaged: 2021-02-27 16:13:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,855
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22019926
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/JedimasterMegan/pseuds/JedimasterMegan
Summary: It’s Domino Squad’s last day of leave on Coruscant, and they intend to make the most of it. Coruscant won’t know what hit it!
Comments: 3
Kudos: 74





	Domino's Day Off

**Author's Note:**

> Giveaway fic won by @arctrooper-fives on tumblr :)

It was the last day of their first leave on Coruscant and Domino Squad had _plans_.

The rest of their week-long leave had consisted of sleeping in (it never worked out, their training was too ingrained in them for that), messing around in the barracks, or letting their brothers drag them around to some of their favorite spots in the area (79’s was frequently visited during those excursions). But they had decided their last day would be a day to themselves.

In hindsight, the last day of leave probably wasn’t the best for them to have picked. Things needed to be done in order for the battalion to be ready to ship our again the next day, and nearly everyone had some sort of task assigned to them. Domino Squad was lucky though; Captain Rex had taken a liking to them after the events on Rishi, and he pulled a few strings to assign them to the shorter jobs.

“You five better not make me regret this,” he said as they got ready to leave. “I want you back by oh-three-hundred tomorrow morning, you’ll need some time to rest before we ship out again. And _please_ ,” he said, looking pointedly at Fives, “don’t blow anything up.”

“Of course not, sir, who do you think we are?” Fives said, giving him a cheeky grin.

“A pain in my _shebs_ , for starters,” the Captain replied. He waved them off, “Go on, get out here. You’re dismissed.” Fives gave him a jaunty salute that the rest of them copied and they left the barracks.

Their main stop for the night was a place called “Dex’s Diner.” Cutup had been the one to approach them with the idea, after hearing about the place from Commander Tano. “If we’re going to be on Coruscant for a week,” he had said, “then one of those days I am going to have some _real_ food.” They were all in agreement about that, for once, and so Domino Squad found themselves standing in front of the antiquated diner, mouths already watering at the smells that drifted out onto the street.

They entered through an actual push-door, a bell chiming as it opened. The Besalisk at the front counter looked up. “Hold it right there!” he shouted. They froze, watching tensely as four armed-man lumbered over to them. He looked them over, muttering. “Let’s see here… Blue armor…” His face lit up and he grinned at them. “You must be Ani’s boys!” he boomed, making Droidbait jump.

“Well whaddya know, Ani’s back in town!” he laughed, his heavy accent vaguely reminding Droidbait of Cutup’s. He beckoned them over to an unoccupied booth. “Come, come, sit down!” They slid into the round booth, Fives first, then Echo, Hevy, Cutup, and lastly, Droidbait.

“Don’t believe I’ve ever seen you boys around here,” he said, grabbing a nearby chair and pulling it to their table. Two of his four arms rested on the chair back in front of him while the others remained folded at his sides. “First time?”

Hevy cleared his throat. “First time on Coruscant at all, actually.”

“Why that’s even better!” he exclaimed. “That means I get to be the first one to feed ya a good, proper meal! Here,” he pulled out a menu– where he had been keeping it all this time, Droidbait didn’t know– from behind his back “Now tell me, you ever have any of this stuff before?”

They glanced over the list and shook their heads. Droidbait wasn’t sure what half of the stuff _was_ , let alone had it to eat before.

“Nothing?” Dex said. “Well, we don’t want to overwhelm ya for yer first time. Tell ya what, I’ll bring out some favorites of your brethren, all on the house. There should be something in there that you’ll like.”

They gaped at the man. “Uh, sir, you- you don’t have to do that,” Echo stammered. “We have credits, we can pay for-”

“Nonsense!” Dex exclaimed. “Keep your credits! Consider this a thanks for all ya do to keep us safe.”

“I- thank you, sir.” Fives said.

“Call me Dex,” the Besalisk replied, clapping his brother on the back. “I’ll be out in a moment with yer food.”

They didn’t have to wait long. Dex was quick with his work and he soon brought five different plates of steaming hot food to their table. “After you’re done, tell me which one was yer favorite,” he said, gesturing to the various burgers and sandwiches. “Ya know, for next time.” He winked at them, then left to attend to the other patrons in the diner.

They distributed the food between the five of them. “Alright,” Hevy said, picking up his sandwich and raising it to his mouth, “we all take a bite on the count of three. One… Two… Three!”

Droidbait bit into his burger and nearly moaned at the taste. It was _delicious_ , warm and juicy and his taste buds _tingled_ when the spices hit his tongue. It was probably the best thing he had ever eaten.

“ _Little gods_ , this is _amazing_ ,” Fives said through a mouth full of food, and the rest of them mumbled their agreement, though Hevy did wack him on the shoulder. From what they heard, it wasn’t polite to talk with your mouth full, and they didn’t need to give the civies another reason to look at them weirdly.

Echo at least waited until he swallowed before he spoke. “It’s spicier than I thought it would be.”

Fives sat up straighter in his seat. “Wait, yours is _spicy_? Let me try!”

“No! Fives!” Echo shouted, holding his sandwich just out of Fives’ reach. “You have your own!”

Droidbait drowned out the rest of their squabbling and turned his attention to the three baskets of fried crisps Dex brought with their food. If he remembered what Dex said correctly, then each one of them was a different flavor.

Cutup nudged him with his elbow “Which one are you thinking about trying?” Droidbait considered his options, then pointed to the ones dusted with some light brown powder.

“These look interesting,” he said, picking one of the crisps up and trying it. It was a _lot_ sweeter than he expected. The powder on the outside must have been some kind of sugar, but surprisingly, it fit in well with the flavors of the rest of the meal.

“Well?” Cutup asked. “How is it?”

Droidbait smirked. “I’ll give you one guess.”

“Delicious? Magnificent? Absolutely kriffing amazing?”

“That’s three guesses, but yes,” he laughed.

They quickly finished up the rest of their food and stopped to thank Dex again before leaving.

“It’s no trouble at all,” he said, clapping them on the back. “You heading anywhere else after this?”

“We passed by a marketplace on our way here. We thought we’d check it out,” Hevy answered.

“Well, you stick ‘round these parts and you’ll have a good time,” the Besalisk said. “Nice people here, not as… biased as others might be.”

They shared a glance between the five of them. It seemed that people around here weren’t as prejudiced about clones as some other inhabitants of the galaxy were.

“Thank you for your help, Dex,” Echo said with a smile.

“Of course. Now you boys have a good time!” Dex said, seeing them off. They waved goodbye to him and set off down the street towards the market area.

“Do you think we should have gotten something to take back for everyone else?” Droidbait wondered aloud as they made their way through the markets.

“Nah, they’re probably still all at 79’s getting drunk off their- hey wait, what’s that?” Fives stopped in the middle of the street, pointing to one of the nearby stands. Fives started walking towards it and the rest of them followed behind. An old human man stood behind the counter, obviously the owner of the stall.

“Ah, I see you are interested in my flimsy pieces,” the man said, giving them all a warm smile.

Fives’ jaw dropped. “You mean all of these are made out of _flimsy_?” Droidbait had a hard time believing that himself, the pieces were _incredibly_ complex.

The man nodded. “There is an entire art form based off of what can be created with flimsy. Some of the more complicated designs can only be achieved through years of practice, but I can show you a simpler one if you would like.” He pulled out a few small sheets of colored flimsy and began to fold it, Fives absolutely transfixed on the motions. As the man worked, he talked, recalling memories about how he came to learn the art and the history of the art itself. Cutup listened with rapt attention, soaking up the new stories like a sponge. His brother _did_ always have an affinity for storytelling.

Droidbait wandered away from the flimsy stand, taking in all the other sights of the lower levels of Coruscant. “Hey, 'Bait, wait up!” Echo called out, running to catch up to him. “Fives and Cutup are probably gonna be there a while, wanna go look around and see what else we can find?”

Droidbait nodded and he and Echo set off. They saw lots of interesting things as they roamed through the streets, but nothing that really caught their eye. They turned a corner and Droidbait stopped Echo with a hand on his shoulder. “Do you hear that?” he said. “It almost sounds like…”

“Music,” Echo finished for him. They glanced at each other and then took off down the street.

They found the source of it about two blocks down: a group of three musicians– a Zeltron, a Kiffar, and a Devaronian– playing on the corner of the street.

The music was different than anything he ever heard before, which was saying a lot considering he used to have the radio playing all the time when they were stationed on the Rishi Moon. Though, back then, the only stations he could listen to had to be military approved. With a start, he realized there was an entire _galaxy_ full of different kinds of music to listen to. He barely even scratched the _surface_. The thought excited him. To Droidbait, finding new music was one of the best things in the galaxy, and this time was no exception.

He approached them slowly, Echo trailing behind him. The Kiffar had a set of drum-like instruments in front of them and Droidbait felt himself tapping his foot in time with their low beat and humming along to the tune the Devaronian played on his small piano. He closed his eyes and let the music flow through him until the rest of the world faded away.

Someone started singing and his eyes flew open. The Zeltron watched him with a half smile, and without missing a note, reached behind her and pulled out a datapad, motioning him closer. He froze in surprise, but eventually inched his way over.

She put the datapad in his hand, pointing to the words on the screen. He read through them, realizing they were the same lyrics she was singing. The woman pointed at the words more urgently, then gestured to him.

Droidbait looked at her with wide eyes. _You want me to sing?_ he mouthed. The Zeltron shook her head enthusiastically.

He glanced back at Echo only to find that he had been dragged in by the musicians as well and sat with the Kiffar as he attempted to learn the drum rhythm. If Echo could do that, then Droidbait supposed he could try his hand at the singing.

It took him one or two verses to get the hang of the song, but after a while he quietly began to sing with the Zeltron. He was a little self-conscious about it at first– he’d sung before, yes, but never in front of anyone. Not even his brothers– but the woman kept encouraging him, and eventually he felt comfortable enough to make his voice a little louder.

The Zeltron patted him on the shoulder, motioning for him to keep going as she broke off into harmonies, his notes mixing in the air with hers _beautifully_ before being replaced by the next set. He found himself grinning as he sang, and was more than a little disappointed when they hit the last note and the song finished with a flourish. The Zeltron turned to him and grinned. “You got a good set of pipes on you, kid.” He felt the tips of his ears grow warm at the praise. “What’s your name?” she asked.

“I’m Droidbait,” he said, Echo introducing himself after.

“Which battalion are you with?” the Kiffar asked.

“The five-oh-first,” Echo repiled.

The Devaronian let out a low whistle. “Frontliners, huh? You heading back out soon then?”

Droidbait nodded and shared a glance with Echo. They’d have to head back to the barracks soon if they wanted to be ready to leave in the morning. Then it was off to the front for who knows how long. Droidbait was sad their leave was coming to an end.

The Zeltron slung an arm around his shoulders, her friendly manner brightening up his mood instantly. “Well, Droidbait, next time you’re on Coruscant,” she pointed to a club further down the street, “you go there and you ask for Sazeke, alright? They’ll know where to find me so I can give you some vocal lessons!”

Droidbait gaped at her. “Seriously, you- you’d be willing to do that?”

Sazeke smiled big and bright “Of course! And I bet Toka here would be willing would be willing to teach your friend all he wants know about music, right?” She said, gesturing to the Kiffar.

Toka nodded, about to say something to Echo when the Devaronian cut in with a snort. “If you want to learn strictly percussion, kid, then stick with them,” he said to Echo. “Toka’s great at what they do, sure, but if you want to learn some _real_ music, come talk to me.”

Toka shook their head, dreadlocks waving back and forth with the movement. “Whatever you say, Vreef.” They turned back to Echo. “Point is, we’re definitely willing to teach you guys what we know if you’re interested.”

Both he and Echo grinned. “That sounds great!” he exclaimed, bouncing up and down. Echo was less vocal than him with his excitement, but Droidbait could tell he was excited all the same.

“Thank you. That means a lot to us.” Echo said, still grinning as he moved to stand by Droidbait while the musicians began to pack up their things.

“Echo! Droidbait!” Hevy jumped on them from behind, nearly taking them down with the force of it. He saw Sazeke giggle out of the corner of his eye and he waved goodbye to her and the others as Hevy dragged them further down the street.

“Guys, come on, you gotta see this!” Hevy urged, pulling them along to where Fives and Cutup were standing by a large, box-shaped thing.

“What is it?” Echo asked as they approached, fingering the curtain that covered part of one side.

“It’s a holo booth!” Hevy exclaimed. “I’ve seen them in holovids before!”

“You mean in your trashy romance holovids you smuggled aboard the ship when we left Naboo?” Cutup waggling his eyebrows.

“ _Sunset on Alderaan_ is a great show! You just don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Before this argument gets any further,” Droidbait said, stepping in between them, “let’s just take this holo, alright?”

They clambered into the small holo booth. It was a tight fit– all five of them had their full armor on– but they managed to squeeze in enough where each of of them would be seen by the camera.

“We ready?” Fives asked, being the one closest to the button to snap the picture. They nodded their agreement and Fives pressed the button.

_Click_.

“I think I blinked,” Cutup said.

Echo sighed. “Really, Cutup?”

“I’m sorry! The flash was-”

“Wait, guys!” Hevy said.

_Click_.

“Did it take another one?” Droidbait asked, confused.

“Did you guys even read the sign?” Fives said exasperatedly, pointing to a plaque near the camera. “It says it takes five holos at a time.”

_Click_.

“That’s the third, we only have two left to get this right!” Echo shouted.

“Hevy! Move your arm!”

“I’m trying!”

_Click_.

“Guys, get it together!”

“Alright, everyone smile!”

_Click_.

They clambered out of the booth. “Did it work?” Droidbait said, peering over Hevy’s shoulder to where the inner machine shot the printed holos out of a slot.

The first four were a mess of weird faces and tangled limbs. The fifth, however, actually looked decent. They still looked a mess, squished together and barely untangled from each other, but they were smiling, laughing. They looked like _brothers_.

Echo hummed. “I want that picture there.”

“Echo, your elbow is in Fives’ face in that one.”

“I know.”

“Hey!”

Droidbait smiled and shook his head at his brothers’ antics as they started back towards the barracks. Domino Squad was crazy, for sure, but he wouldn’t trade his place in it for anything in the world.

**Author's Note:**

> I'm jedi-master-megan on tumblr, come say hi!


End file.
